AFT Resolution

PRIVATIZATION AND CONTRACTING OUT

WHEREAS, the economic and fiscal constraints confronting school districts, local and state governments and public colleges and universities create pressure to maintain services with fewer resources, erode public confidence in the quality and effectiveness of public services, and accelerate the trend toward privatization and contracting out of public services as a "magic bullet" or a quick-fix solution; and

WHEREAS, AFT members in each region of the country face the threats of privatization and contracting out every service, including K-12 and higher education classroom instruction, student transportation, food services, custodial and maintenance, health care in public institutions and corrections, computer services, tax processing and many other state-provided services; and

WHEREAS, the AFT and its members are strongly committed to providing the highest quality and most effective services to students and the public, and our experience has demonstrated that the route to high quality is not through privatization and contracting out; and

WHEREAS, public sector workers in schools, higher education and local and state government on the front lines of service delivery every day have demonstrated their commitment to improving the quality of those services and those institutions, and are best able to use their expertise and dedication to assist in designing more efficient and effective delivery of public services; and

WHEREAS, elected leaders at all levels of government with an ideological agenda have used both fiscal crises and the anti-tax climate as a Trojan Horse to dismantle public institutions through downsizing, contracting out and privatization, instead of involving public employees and their unions in meaningful participation to improve quality and control costs; and

WHEREAS, privatization and contracting out of public services formerly provided by AFT members has produced a dismal track record resulting in:

A loss of accountability to the public;

Decreased quality of services provided;

An increase in opportunities for political patronage;

Loss of income for local businesses as profits flow to outside companies;

Substantial decrease in jobs with family-supporting wages and benefits;

Increased costs to taxpayers as contractors raise fees after gaining a monopoly;

Transition and legal costs borne by taxpayers when contracts are terminated;

Fragmentation of the integrity of teaching, research and support of teaching institutions; and

WHEREAS, proponents of privatization promise taxpayers cost savings by contracting out public services, many privatization schemes result in higher costs to taxpayers, for example, in Baltimore where taxpayers paid $11 million more to Education Alternatives Inc. than for comparable schools; in Hartford, Connecticut, where EAI demanded taxpayers foot the bills for luxury condominiums and expensive executive perks; and in Massachusetts where state human services contracting out resulted in excessive salaries for private contractors; and

WHEREAS, private contractors often overpromise and don't deliver improved services, AFT has documented the price paid by the public for contracting out, including:

Consistently lower achievement by students;

Reduced student transportation services;

Schools and government buildings which are no longer cleaned or maintained adequately;

Additional layers of red tape and bureaucracy;

Food service that provides less nutritious meals; and

Health and human services in which contractors are paid highly, while neglecting the needs of low-income clients; and

WHEREAS, both the poor performance and the lack of accountability of private contractors has led to their rejection and ejection from communities across the nation, including:

Termination of Education Alternatives Inc. school management contract after 3 1/2 years in Baltimore;

Termination of EAI school management contract after 18 months in Hartford;

Non-renewal of EAI's contract to run South Pointe school in Dade County, Fla.;

Termination of Marriott Corporation contract for food service after two years in Los Alamos;

Termination of Servicemaster Corporation contracts for custodial/maintenance services in Hernando and Monroe Counties, Fla.;

Termination of Ryder and Laidlaw transportation and Johnson Controls bus maintenance contracts in San Diego, Calif. and Fairfax, Va.;

Rejection of privatizing computer services in Indiana by legislators;

Rejection of privatizing state-run job training services by Kentucky Legislature; and

Rejection of contracting out food service, custodial and maintenance services in Dearborn, Mich.:

RESOLVED, that the AFT intensify its efforts to combat privatization and contracting out, including expanded membership education and field training, research, development of materials, strategic and technical assistance and provide a clearinghouse for information and strategies; and

RESOLVED, that AFT continue to take the offensive for excellence, encouraging the development of proactive strategies by locals to preempt privatization and contracting out, through union-initiated workplace quality efforts, labor-management cooperation with meaningful union representation, union-developed or jointly-developed alternative proposals to contracting out; and

RESOLVED, that AFTs Lessons for Life campaign to make schools safe and orderly for learning and set high academic standards for all students be advanced as a proven successful and unifying alternative to the divisive and unsuccessful performance of private contractors; and

RESOLVED, that AFT will support innovative approaches to the delivery of public services, especially in local and state government, that encourage quality services, job security, partnership with public workers unions, alternatives to contracting out and sharing the rewards of improved efficiency with workers; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT and its affiliates expand outreach and coalition building with allies and organizations in our communities to inform, educate, and involve the public in defensive and offensive efforts to prevent privatization and contracting out; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue to gather information and publicly expose any abuse of taxpayer dollars perpetrated by private companies on school districts and students.

(1996)